Uwe Rosler has been in charge at Wigan for little over a month as he prepares his side for the visit of Premier League Crystal Palace in the FA Cup. Things started very positively for the former Brentford boss as he remained unbeaten through his first eight domestic games in charge. They came crashing down to earth last weekend as lowly Doncaster put three past them without reply. The German has been in the media this week stating that it will take time for him to imprint his own ideas and get his players, which is fair enough but he has a squad full of quality for this level and a budget which many of their rivals would be delighted with. They reached the fourth round of this competition after seeing off MK Dons in extra time of the replay.
I think it’s fair to say that the FA Cup will not be at the top of Tony Pulis’ and Crystal Palace’s priority for this season as they fight for their lives in the Premier League. He had a fair record in the competition in his previous job at Stoke, reaching the final in 2011 only to lose out against Manchester City. He didn’t have the worries he has at his current club however and with the biggest squad in English football at his disposal, the chances are he’ll be using it on Saturday. There’s no doubt that the new manager has brought about a lot of improvement since taking over from Ian Holloway, particularly in the organisation and structure of the side. He may well not deem this match as important as three points in a league game but he’ll demand the same effort and expect his players to continue with those good habits.
Despite an indifferent season in the main, Wigan have a very decent home record having lost just twice in the league at the DW Stadium. They have got the better of the likes of Nottingham Forest and Reading and will be hoping that they can continue their good home form on Saturday. They may be the lower placed side now, but they had been competing in the top division for eight seasons before that so there isn’t a huge gulf in class between the two clubs.
There’s no surprises about a team managed by Tony Pulis; they’ll be hard working, well organised and make it a physical encounter. Having secured a huge win over his old side last weekend, a win which took them out the bottom three again, confidence will be high and there will be a different pressure on the players than they have been experiencing in the league. With fringe players certain to come in its hard to predict how motivated the side will be, which could play into their host’s hands.
There really is very little between these two sides heading into Saturday’s game. When that’s the case, you have to judge how much motivation each side has for progressing in the cup and I believe Wigan have more reason to want to win this and can just edge it over their Premier League opponents.
Wigan 6/5 @ Bet365
